May 28, 2010

Wyden’s Week in Oregon Includes Stops in Boardman, Arlington, Newport and Bend

Events include ground breaking at a biofinery, visiting Shepherds Flat windmill farm, Newport’s celebration of NOAA arrival and a Senate hearing on the Eastside Forest Bill

Portland, OR – Senator Ron Wyden’s schedule next week starts in Eastern Oregon on Wednesday, June 2, with visits to job-generating, green-energy projects in Boardman and Arlington. On June 3, he is on the Central Oregon Coast to celebrate the decision to bring the NOAA fleet and staff to Newport. On Friday, June 4, he is in Central Oregon for a congressional subcommittee hearing in Bend on the Eastside Forestry Bill.

Wednesday, June 2, 11:30 a.m., ZeaChem groundbreaking, Port of Morrow, 2 Marine Dr., Boardman.
Senator Wyden will join Gov. Ted Kulongoski to break ground on ZeaChem’s new facility that converts renewable biomass into sustainable fuels and chemicals. The new facility is expected to create 292 direct and indirect jobs, most of them in Morrow County. ZeaChem contact is Joey Marquart, 650-762-2987, joey.marquart@edelman.com

Wednesday, June 2, 1:30 p.m., Shepherds Flat Wind Mill Farm, Rhea Road, southeast of Arlington
Senator Wyden will join Gov. Ted Kulongoski, officials of Caithness Energy, local officials and resident at the Shepherds Flat windmill farm outside of Arlington. Work began at Shepherds Flat after the Department of Defense dropped its opposition over concerns that it would interfere with a near-by radar facility. The project will create 700 construction jobs.
(The event will take place on Rhea Road. From the east, take Oregon 74 off Interstate 84 (Ione exit), go south then turn right onto Rhea Road. From the west on Interstate 84, take the Arlington exit, go south on Oregon 19, and turn left onto Rhea Road.)

Thursday, June 3:
10 a.m. – Senator Wyden will join state and federal officials at the Port of Newport for a ground breaking and celebration of the decision to move the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Fleet from Seattle to Newport. The NOAA decision fleet will bring 65 jobs to the Newport area. The location is the new NOAA MOC-P site just west of the Hatfield Marine Science Center in South Beach.

Friday, June 4: 1 p.m., Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands hearing,
1 p.m. – The Public Lands Subcommittee, chaired by Senator Wyden, will hold a hearing on the Eastside Forestry Bill. Testimony by invited witnesses only. The Eastside Forestry Bill will create jobs, save old growth trees and provide logs and other forestry material to local mills. The hearing will be held in the Barnes Room of the Deschutes Public Services Center Building, 1300 NW Wall Street, Bend, Oregon. For further information about the hearing, please contact Scott Miller at (202) 224-5488 or Allison Seyferth at (202) 224-4905.